Updates
2003 Updates
October 28, 2003 First arrests made in nationwide child porn investigation.
By ANNA OBERTHUR
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (October 16, 8:12 p.m. ADT) - Three men indicted for trafficking child pornography on the Internet are the first to be arrested in an investigation that could lead to charges against hundreds of people across the country, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
The arrests resulted from the use of the latest techniques and technology to track down suspected child pornographers online, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said.
More than 300 video files depicting children - babies to teenagers - were stored on computers confiscated during the eight-month investigation by state law enforcement and the FBI, Scott said.
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October 28, 2003 FBI: Kiddie porn sent from library.
By MIKE HOYEM
Suspect accused of viewing, sending pictures containing sadomasochistic images of children.
A registered sex offender was arrested Thursday for allegedly sending sadomasochistic child pornography over the Internet from public-access computers at Charlotte County libraries.
Richard Edward Brillhart, 23, of 21874 Haines Ave. in Port Charlotte was secretly videotaped by an FBI agent Oct. 10 at the Murdock Public Library as he looked at “images of prepubescent children engaged in sex acts” and read a “fantasy story.”
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October 23, 2003 Former Madison band director indicted on 32 sex-related charges.
By Joel Moroney
MANSFIELD - A former Madison band director faces 19 life sentences as part of a 32-count indictment accusing him of sexual involvement with children and pandering child pornography.
The indictment, unsealed Tuesday in a case assigned to Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese, charges Kevin E. Kohler, 39, of Norwalk with the rape of children younger than 13, sexual battery against students, supplying pornography to children and pandering in child pornography.
The indictment is the culmination of an investigation by Richland County Sheriff Sgt. Jeff McBride that began in late July after allegations arose that Kohler had inappropriate conversations with children - by telephone and computer - and sent pornography to them over the Internet.
McBride said that at least six children are involved.
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October 23, 2003 Charleston man arrested for trying to arrange underage tryst online.
A paedophile who sexually abused two teenage girls he met in an internet chat room had his sentence increased yesterday following a
protest from the Attorney General.
Judges at the Court of Appeal ruled that the three years given to 36-year-old electronics engineer Michael Wheeler at Norwich Crown
Court in June was "significantly too lenient" for one of the worst cases of internet abuse. They jailed him for an additional 18
months. Wheeler, described by police as "cold and calculating", was not in court to hear the ruling by Lord Justice Kay, Mr Justice
Poole and Mr Justice Treacy
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October 23, 2003 Jail sentence increased for chatroom paedophile.
By Matthew Beard
A paedophile who sexually abused two teenage girls he met in an internet chat room had his sentence increased yesterday following a
protest from the Attorney General.
Judges at the Court of Appeal ruled that the three years given to 36-year-old electronics engineer Michael Wheeler at Norwich Crown
Court in June was "significantly too lenient" for one of the worst cases of internet abuse. They jailed him for an additional 18
months. Wheeler, described by police as "cold and calculating", was not in court to hear the ruling by Lord Justice Kay, Mr Justice
Poole and Mr Justice Treacy
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October 22, 2003 Man admits guilt in Net sex case.
A Bozeman man admitted Wednesday in federal court he used the Internet to try to coerce a 14-year-old to have sex and that he possessed child pornography. The 14-year-old actually was an undercover FBI agent investigating sexual exploitation of children on the Internet. The agent posed as a young teen in a chat room.
Trevor Jason Bjerke, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and one count of possession of child pornography. Under a forfeiture count, he will give up a cellular telephone and a digital camera.
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October 22, 2003 One man and two women from Newton Grove are behind bars today in connection with child pornography.
Leyver Solis-Meza, 24, of 97 Daybreak Lane, was arrested Friday, Oct. 3, at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Dunn when pornographic
photographs of two nude children were discovered among pictures he had taken there for development the previous day.
Solis-Meza was placed in the Harnett County Jail under a $15,000 secured bond and made his first court appearance in Lillington on Oct. 6.
According to Det. D.O. Whittenton, juvenile investigator for the >Dunn Police, the photographs were taken in Sampson County. That
prompted a separate investigation by the Sampson County Sheriff's Department.
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October 22, 2003 20,000 child porn images a week put on internet, says NSPCC
By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent
More than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the internet every week, according to a report published today.
Distributing the pictures is a "commercial, globalised cottage industry", experts say.
Researchers who monitored the internet over six weeks for the NSPCC found that 140,000 child pornography images were posted. Twenty children were estimated to have been abused for the first time and more than 1,000 images of each child created.
The report is the first review of all available evidence on child pornography and its effect on the children who are abused.
Experts say children who know photographs and films have been made of them are haunted by feelings of shame and worried about
being blackmailed. Christine Atkinson, policy adviser at the NSPCC, said: "Child pornography is instrumental in the sexual abuse of
children within prostitution, sex rings and trafficking, within and outside the family.
"Sexual abuse is devastating and knowing that a permanent record of that abuse exists and is probably being circulated can
only increase the victims' feelings of powerlessness, shame and humiliation.''
One abuse victim told researchers: "An ongoing concern all my life is that the pornography that was taken is going to turn up
somewhere, and if it doesn't, I'd like to know who has it, or where has it gone to? When I was in my twenties I saw some of it ...my
response when I saw the photographs was total horror."
Another study in the review found that younger children are being abused. In recent pictures, about half are between nine and 12
and the rest are younger. Researchers say that the number of boys used in pornography is also increasing.
October 22, 2003 Kidnapped Player: Police Believe Teen Willingly Ran Off With Her High School Softball Coach
Oct. 7 - A warrant for kidnapping has been issued for a Beaverton, Ore. softball coach accused of running off with a 15-year-old girl
who played on his team and lived in his home.
The search is on for Andrew James Garver, 38, and Michelle Elizabeth "Mimi" Smith.
Smith was last seen on Sept. 26, when she slipped a classmate at Beaverton High School a note saying she was running away.
At the same time, police believe that Garver liquidated some of his assets, withdrew money from an account that he shared with his wife
and told his 15-year-old daughter he might be moving to California soon.
Police said it is possible that Garver could be driving a dark blue 2003 Nissan Murano sport utility vehicle with an Oregon temporary
license, A664512.
Police ask anyone with information to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's tip line: 1-800-THE-LOST
(1-800-843-5678).
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October 20, 2003 Bond reduced for former Las Cruces teacher in child porn case
(Las Cruces-AP) -- Bond has been reduced for a former Las Cruces teacher accused of possessing child pornography.
Kenneth Oberheide, 49, had been jailed on $1 million bond.
But state District Judge Stephen Bridgforth Monday reduced the bond to $75,000.
Oberheide is charged with 33 counts of sexual exploitation of children.
Bridgforth has ordered Oberheide to stay away from the Internet and from children.
The judge also has imposed a 7 p.m. curfew on Oberheide.
While searching Oberheide's home, police confiscated more than a thousand photos of nude boys.
Police also seized eight-millimeter movies, videotapes and computer discs.
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October 20, 2003 Man held for sex assault on teen
By James Pentland
BRATTLEBORO -- A local business owner was jailed on $20,000 bail Monday after pleading not guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage
employee several times this summer.
Douglas Huntley, 45, is charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault on a minor, two counts of lewd
and lascivious conduct with a child, one count of lewd and lascivious conduct, as well as furnishing alcohol and disseminating
indecent materials to a minor.
The alleged incidents began soon after the girl, then 14, began working at the Huntley family's West Brattleboro ice cream business in July, according to the affidavit of Deputy Sherwood D. Lake Jr.
To begin with, the alleged victim told police, Huntley would touch and rub her back and buttocks; on other occasions, he put his hand
inside her pants and fondled her breasts.
In August, Huntley took the girl out to Sunset Lake, supposedly on a "deer scouting" trip, where he raped her, court documents state. The
girl told police she was afraid to report the incident while she still worked at the ice cream shop, that he had supplied her with
alcohol and cigarettes, and she was intimidated because she had seen Huntley bring at least 20 guns in to the shop.
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October 20, 2003 Former Manteca High School Teacher Sentenced to Prison Term
A former high school teacher in Manteca, convicted of sex charges involving a 14-year-old he met on the Internet, was sentenced to two
years in prison on Monday.
Robert Schroeder, 33, was a teacher at Manteca High School. He was arrested in May after he posed as a teenage boy to lure a
14-year-old girl. The teen did not attend school in Manteca.
The range of possible sentences ranged from six months in the San Joaquin County Jail to three years in state prison. Prosecutors
argued for prison time, saying that as a teacher, Schroeder violated a position of trust.
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October 20, 2003 Glen Burnie Man Sentenced For Producing Child Porn
BALTIMORE -- A Glen Burnie man is facing a 10-year term in federal prison for producing child pornography.
Gordon Thomas, 29, will also have to serve three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison, and he'll have to register as a
sex offender. He pleaded guilty in June to sexually exploiting a minor by producing child pornography.
He was arrested in April after investigators discovered he'd made a sexually explicit videotape of a child who lived next door to him. Thomas was baby-sitting the child at the time.
Investigators also found that he'd ordered child porn videos from the Philippines and had thousands of images on his computer.
August 2, 2003 DA ponders charges over pedophile's ID
By JOE CARLSON, The Express-Times
EASTON -- A convicted pedophile who tricked government workers in 2001 into placing a 12-year-old foster child in his home could face criminal charges in Northampton County for providing false information.
Ira Butt, 50, gave county and state workers his adult son's Social Security number so his prior conviction for child molestation would not turn up during a routine background check prior to the foster placement, court records say.
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August 2, 2003 Illinois Man Gets 9 years for Child Pornography
John Anderson, 21, of 613 7th St., Colona, pleaded guilty to five counts of Class 1 felony child pornography filed April 23 and was sentenced to nine years in prison, two years mandatory supervised release and fined $1,000 plus court costs on each count.
The court dismissed 103 charges of Class 3 felony child pornography filed Feb. 5.
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August 2, 2003 Two men accused of having sex with runaway they met at library
By LINDA MAN, The Kansas City Star
Authorities today accused two men of having sex with a 13-year-old male runaway they met in a public library.
Jackson County prosecutors charged Thomas Luce, 46, of Independence with one count of statutory sodomy. Juan Chester, 39, of Kansas City faces two counts.
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August 2, 2003 Internet Sex Arrests Coming Under Criticism
XENIA, Ohio -- Police investigations of potential sexual predators on the Internet are coming under fire from defense lawyers.
Xenia police pioneered child exploitation investigations several years ago, but now arrests made by officers they helped train are being questioned.
Xenia police have made more than 50 sex-related arrests in the last 3-4 years based on Internet investigations.
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August 2, 2003 Four men charged with child-sex crimes
By Ashley Broughton, The Salt Lake Tribune
Prosecutors have filed charges against four of five men arrested in one night by the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Benjamin Frank Sartor, 20, and Jesse John Kavachevich, 20, both of Sunset, were charged Friday with attempted sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony punishable by a sentence of up to life in prison.
Derrick Paul Bowen, 19, of Draper, was charged with two counts of enticing a minor over the Internet, and Justin Warren Bass, 20, of Holladay, was charged with one count. The second-degree felony is punishable by a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
The four men were arrested early Thursday by task force agents. They had traveled first to a West Valley City convenience store for a meeting with a 13-year-old girl, then went to a Salt Lake City elementary school for a meeting with another 13-year-old, according to documents filed in the case.
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August 2, 2003 Thousands of Sex Offenders Lost
Brown County judge gives man 2 years for sexual assault
By Jessica La Plante, News-Chronicle
A 27-year-old businessman accused of having sex with a Green Bay teenager he met over the Internet was sentenced to serve two years in prison Friday.
Scolding James Meyer of Medford for breaking his "obligation as an adult to protect children," Brown County Circuit Court Judge Sue Bischel denied a public defender's request to sentence the first-time sexual offender to just probation time.
In May, Meyer pleaded no contest to the felony crime of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16. In exchange for Meyer's guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a child enticement charge. Court documents say he lured a 15-year-old girl to an East Side parking lot for sex.
Following his two-year sentence, Meyer will be on probation for three years. According to a criminal complaint, Meyer arranged to met the girl in front of a pet store in April 2002. Meyer met the teenager in a Yahoo Internet chatroom and suggested they meet person, the complaint said.
Although the girl was not forced to have sex with him, the 15-year-old could not legally consent to the encounter.
At the sentencing hearing, the girl's mother trembled with tears as she described how the defendant's sexual exploits ruined her daughter's life.
"Her 11-year-old sister has to help watch over her now 16-year-old sister," the woman said. She said her daughter was feeling lonely and insecure at the time. By taking advantage of those insecurities, Meyer's actions threw her daughter into a suicidal depression, she said.
Deputy District Attorney John Luetscher asked the judge to sentence Meyer to two years in state prison followed by four years of probation.
"From the state's perspective, probation is not an appropriate sentence, because it depreciates the seriousness of the crime," he said.
Apologizing to the victim's family, Meyer asked for forgiveness, calling the encounter "a mistake."
"It was thoughtless" he said, claiming he had learned his lesson and did not pose a threat to the community.
Bischel acknowledged the defendant had many good qualities, commending his solid work history, clean criminal record and show of remorse.
Nonetheless, said she felt it was necessary to impose a prison sentence to show Meyer his victim was more than just a screen name in a chatroom. She said his online relationship with the 15-year-old had real consequences.
"When I read the letter from (the victim's mother), I was struck by the impact it had on their lives," Bischel said. "You have an obligation as an adult not to take advantage of her and you dishonored that obligation."
Bischel said she hoped the sentence would send a message to adults who view the Internet as an easy means of accessing children for sex.
By meeting the girl over the Internet, "you don't know who she is, where she came from or how it's going to impact her," Bischel said. "You don't have a clue."
July 20, 2003 Thousands of Sex Offenders Lost
Net scandal that will shock every parent
By Sara Nuwar And James Weatherup
This is the moment when an evil internet pervert snared his innocent prey.
Karan Singh Randhawa, a married father of two, persuaded "12-year-old Gillian" to meet him face to face after an extraordinary three-and-a-half hours of practised - and sickening - seduction in an online children's chatroom.
But what the 30-year-old pervert didn't know was that the "youngster" was in reality a Sunday Mirror investigator - and our team was monitoring his every move.
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April 6, 2003 Thousands of Sex Offenders Lost
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April 6, 2003 Man gets longest Federal child porn sentence
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April 6, 2003 Mother Charged with Helping Stepfather rape girl, 12
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April 6, 2003 Child Rape Convictions Upheld
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April 6, 2003 Ex-Priest gets 5 more years
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April 6, 2003 Longview Man receives 21 months in porn case
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January 14, 2003 Convicted kidnapper attempts to buy child
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January 14, 2003 New Castle man faces child porn charges
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January 14, 2003 Actor Best Known For Pee-Wee Herman Role Faces Misdemeanor Charges
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January 12, 2003 Child porn nets jail time for 2 men
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January 11, 2003 Not-guilty plea in child porn case
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January 11, 2003 Gardnerville man pleads guilty to child porn charges
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January 11, 2003 Performer With Abuse Record Is Allowed Back in Rye Park
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January 4, 2003 Man guilty in child porn case
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